Based on my recently acquired 700 Classic .35 Whelen, 1988 was certainly a good year. My 700 Classic .30-06 is a shooter from the 80's as well.

My M788 and the 2 M600 Mohawks(one now gone)indicate that the 70's were good years.

I recently bought a M700 SS SPS DM in .308 that is still too new to judge. So far, it does not match my Stevens 200 or my Tikka T3 Lite,which are also fairly new.